Pierre Corneille was a French dramatist and one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine. He was a master of the classical French tragedy and is best known for his play Le Cid. He is also credited with pioneering the use of the heroic couplet in French poetry.
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Top 10 Pierre Corneille Quotes
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Life Lessons
Famous Pierre Corneille Quotes
Top 10 Pierre Corneille Quotes
The greater the effort, the greater the glory.
Self-love is the source of all our other loves.
A liar is always lavish of oaths.
These flattering mirrors reflect imperfectly what is within; the countenance is often a gay deceiver. What defects of mind lie hidden under its beauty! What fair exteriors conceal base souls!
It matters more how one gives than what one gives.
Heaven often regulates effects by their causes, and pays the wicked what they have deserved.
The manner of giving is worth more than the gift.
To take revenge halfheartedly is to court disaster; either condemn or crown your hatred.
Self-love is the source of all our other loves. — Pierre Corneille
A liar is always lavish of oaths. — Pierre Corneille
Pierre Corneille Short Quotes
He who plays advisor is no longer ambassador.
Time is a great manager: it arranges things well.
The man who pardons easily courts injury.
All great virtues become great men.
Do your duty and leave the rest to heaven.
Brave men are brave from the very first.
All evils are equal when they are extreme.
Happiness seems made to be shared.
A liar is full of oaths.
Danger breeds best on too much confidence.
Pierre Corneille Famous Quotes And Sayings
Self-love is the source of all our other loves. — Pierre Corneille
A liar is always lavish of oaths. — Pierre Corneille
We triumph without glory when we conquer without danger. — Pierre Corneille
Good fortune leads one to the highest glory, But to renounce it calls for equal courage. — Pierre Corneille
Just vengeance does not call for punishment. — Pierre Corneille
As for our gods, we have a few too many to be true. — Pierre Corneille
There are secret ties, there are sympathies, by the sweet relationship of which souls that are well matched attach themselves to each other, and are affected by I know not what, which cannot be explained — Pierre Corneille
He who despises life is his life's master. — Pierre Corneille
If you betray me, can I take a better revenge than to love the person you hate? — Pierre Corneille
He who has resolved to conquer or die is seldom conquered; such noble despair perishes with difficulty. — Pierre Corneille
Flee an enemy who knows your weakness. — Pierre Corneille
A monarch must sometimes rule even himself: he who wants everything must risk very little. — Pierre Corneille
He who can live in infamy is unworthy of life. — Pierre Corneille
I have deserved neither so much honor or so much disgrace. — Pierre Corneille
Those who easily forgive invite offenses. — Pierre Corneille
To he who avenges a father, nothing is impossible — Pierre Corneille
Love is a tyrant sparing none. — Pierre Corneille
Omnipotence is bought with ceaseless fear. — Pierre Corneille
Brave men are brave from the very first.
[Fr., Les hommes valeureux le sont au premier coup.] — Pierre Corneille
For souls nobly born, valor doesn't await the passing of years — Pierre Corneille
Severity is allowable where gentleness has no effect. — Pierre Corneille
Force is legitimate where gentleness avails not. — Pierre Corneille
One often calms one's grief by recounting it. — Pierre Corneille
Clemency is the surest proof of a true monarch.
[Fr., La clemence est la plus belle marque
Qui fasse a l'univers connaitre un vrai monqrque.] — Pierre Corneille
He who allows himself to be insulted deserves to be so; and insolence, if unpunished, increases!
[Lat., Qui se laisse outrager, merite qu'on l'outrage
Et l'audace impunie enfle trop un courage.] — Pierre Corneille
A Victory without danger is a triumph without glory. — Pierre Corneille
A liar is always lavish of oaths.
[Fr., Un menteur est toujours prodigue de serments.] — Pierre Corneille
In recounting our woes, we often soothe them. — Pierre Corneille
A first impulse was never a crime. — Pierre Corneille
To myself alone do I owe my fame.
[Fr., Je ne dois qu'a moi seul toute ma renommee.] — Pierre Corneille
And the combat ceased, for want of combatants. — Pierre Corneille
One doesn't wish to see those to whom one owes so much. — Pierre Corneille
Ambition, having reached the summit, longs to descend. — Pierre Corneille
It is the crime not the scaffold which is the disgrace. — Pierre Corneille
Patience and time conquer all things. — Pierre Corneille
Here honor binds me, and I wish to satisfy it. — Pierre Corneille
An example is often a deceptive mirror, and the order of destiny, so troubling to our thoughts, is not always found written in things past — Pierre Corneille
The worst of all States is the democratic State. — Pierre Corneille
To myself alone do I owe my fame. — Pierre Corneille
Liberty may be of no more use Than stirring up the flame of civil wars; Then, by disorder fatal to the world, One wants no king, the other wants no equal. — Pierre Corneille
Ambition becomes displeasing when it is once satiated; there is a reaction; and as our spirit, till our last sigh, is always aiming toward some object, it falls back on itself, having nothing else on which to rest; and having reached the summit, it longs to descend. — Pierre Corneille
A good memory is needed once we have lied.
[Fr., Il faut bonne memoire apres qu'on a menti.] — Pierre Corneille
One half of my life has put the other half in the grave. — Pierre Corneille
A good memory is needed after one has lied. — Pierre Corneille
Peace is produced by war. — Pierre Corneille
He who allows me to rule is in fact my master. — Pierre Corneille
One ought to have a good memory when he has told a lie — Pierre Corneille
To conquer without danger is to conquer without glory. — Pierre Corneille
As our self-interests differ, so do our feelings. — Pierre Corneille
The subject of a good tragedy must not be realistic. — Pierre Corneille
I am young, it is true; but in noble souls valor does not wait for years. — Pierre Corneille
The fire which seems extinguished often slumbers beneath the ashes. — Pierre Corneille
Your virtue raises your glory above your crime. — Pierre Corneille
Rome alone can resist Rome. — Pierre Corneille
Love lives on hope, and dies when hope is dead; It is a flame which sinks for lack of fuel. — Pierre Corneille
Have others fear you, and I will have no fear. — Pierre Corneille
When obedience is so impious, revolt is a necessity. — Pierre Corneille
Heaven absolves all crimes committed to gain a throne Once Heaven gives it to us. — Pierre Corneille
Every brave man is a man of his word; to such base vices he cannot stoop, and shuns more than death the shame of lying. — Pierre Corneille
In the service of Caesar, everything is legitimate. — Pierre Corneille
To vanquish without peril is to triumph without glory. — Pierre Corneille
Ambition displeases when it has been sated ... having reached the peak, it aspires to descend. — Pierre Corneille
Death was to be my glory, but destiny has refused it. — Pierre Corneille
I am master of myself as of the universe, so I am; so I wish to be. — Pierre Corneille
Kindness acts Not always as you think; a hated hand Renders it odious. — Pierre Corneille
It takes good memory to keep up a lie — Pierre Corneille
He who fears not death fears not a threat. — Pierre Corneille
Every man of courage is a man of his word. — Pierre Corneille
Be it only for a day, it is still a glory without equal to be master of the world just that day. — Pierre Corneille
Among wellborn spirits courage does not depend on age. — Pierre Corneille
Happiness is meant to be shared. — Pierre Corneille
He should be envied Who when his strength is spent lays down his life. Old age reserves a melancholy fate For noble souls before their life is done. — Pierre Corneille
I believe everything to be just when a king ordains it. — Pierre Corneille
In relating our misfortunes, we often feel them lightened. — Pierre Corneille
I love you much less than my God, but much more than myself. — Pierre Corneille
Guess, if you can, and choose, if you dare.
[Lat., Devine, si tu peux, et choisis, si tu l'oses.] — Pierre Corneille
Generosity is the accompaniment of high birth; pity and gratitude are its attendants. — Pierre Corneille
Your heart is mine; there I reign. I am content. — Pierre Corneille
All great virtues become great men.
[Fr., Toutes grandes vertus conviennent aux grands hommes.] — Pierre Corneille
I would not like a king who could obey. — Pierre Corneille
If anyone wants to know what elephants are like, they are like people only more so. — Pierre Corneille
I am Roman, alas, because Horace is Roman. — Pierre Corneille
It is an imprudence common to kings to listen to too much advice and to err in their choice. — Pierre Corneille
It is a law, of the gods which is never broken, to sell somewhat dearly the great benefits which they confer on us. — Pierre Corneille
The crime and not the scaffold makes the shame. — Pierre Corneille
Ambition aspires to descend — Pierre Corneille
I see, I know, I believe, I am undeceived. — Pierre Corneille
My sweetest hope is to lose hope — Pierre Corneille
Sir, what does it matter whom I serve, so long as I am right? — Pierre Corneille
It is the gift of heaven and not of reason. — Pierre Corneille
Doubt, but still hate! — Pierre Corneille
Guess if you can, choose if you dare. — Pierre Corneille
Life Lessons by Pierre Corneille
Pierre Corneille teaches us to persevere in the face of adversity and never give up on our dreams. He also emphasizes the importance of loyalty and friendship, showing us that the bonds we form with others can help us to achieve our goals. Lastly, he reminds us that our actions have consequences, and that we must take responsibility for our decisions.
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